-By Andreas Fuchs

During the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival, Kansas City, Missouri-based AMC Theatres announced detailed plans to give some 77 of its 299 theatres the independent edge thanks to “a year-round program of specialty films supported by a sustainable marketing program.”

Expanding upon and replacing the “AMC Select” brand, which was launched on the same occasion four years ago, AMC has now trademarked this latest initiative “AMC independent” and “AMCi” for short. While 60 screens across the U.S. and Canada will be playing art films every day, an additional 18 have been deemed “AMCi Friendly Screens” that “will offer art titles when product fits strategy.”

The circuit’s president of programming, Bob Lenihan, called AMCi the manifestation of “our renewed commitment to providing independent film to our increasingly diverse audience. We intend to amplify our pledge of bringing these stories to our guests through direct partnerships with independent filmmakers and through film festival participation and promotion, in a more significant way than we have in the past.”

As the newly confirmed VP, specialty and alternative content, Nikkole Denson-Randolph has been charged with connecting with those partners. Judging from her presentation to a crowded room of filmmakers, media and industry at Manhattan’s trendy The Gates, she is off to a good start. In attendance were representatives from Anchor Bay, Apparition, First Independent, Independent Distribution Partners (IDP), IFC Films, Lionsgate, Magnolia, Sony Pictures Classics and The Weinstein Company, among others.

“We wanted to make sure they get the full picture of what we are doing,” Denson-Randolph, who previously worked in business development at Starbucks Entertainment, Magic Johnson Entertainment and Magic Hallway Pictures, tells Film Journal International. Until the Tribeca launch, “I’ve kept it a bit on a hush.” Based at the AMC film buying office in Century City, Calif., she plans another presentation in Los Angeles once she has tied down “a few more of the marketing initiatives that I want to integrate. I’d like to keep a little back,” she confides, “and unveil a bit more once we’ve established ourselves better.”

Already in place are a variety of tools in support of the program. In the theatres proper, audiences will find one-sheets announcing the AMCi program and a quarterly “Now Playing/Coming Soon” poster that prominently features title art of upcoming films. The latter also receive their dedicated poster cases while pre-show graphics and a post-trailer logo segment guarantee an independent presence onscreen.

Beyond the movie theatre, AMC’s website features an AMCi section and related community group. House ads and AMC’s MovieWatcher loyalty program will cross-promote, she expects, alongside special AMCi newsletter pods, Facebook messaging, targeted e-mail blasts and additional PR support “based on exclusive, unique partnerships.” Early examples are an online callout from producer and lead actor Benjamin Bratt for La Mission (Screen Media Films); an in-theatre giveaway of Mother’s Day gift cards and photo frames for Babies (Focus Features); and interviews with Jesse Eisenberg and other actors in Holy Rollers (First Independent Films) on AMC’s Facebook page.

More “exclusive content and film offerings for our guests” are on the horizon. Based on the circuit’s geographic footprint, its theatre amenities and AMCi’s direct marketing support, Denson-Randolph foresees working directly with filmmakers and producers to bring their work to audiences across the country. Already last November, AMC partnered with documentarian Mary Mazzio for Global Entrepreneurship Week on a 15-theatre, eight-market release of TEN9EIGHT: Shoot for the Moon.

Targeting the right name “took us a while,” Denson-Randolph admits about the AMCi branding process. “We spent a great deal of time figuring out the right name that we felt would speak to what we were actually doing. We went through all kinds of variations… Independent seemed so simplistic, but it actually says it all. And we love it!”
What about the old flame? How is AMCi different from AMC Select? After all, by building upon 79 screens since 2006, that program helped increase AMC’s market share of the specialized segment from less than 14% to more than 16.5%.“The Select platform,” she opines, “was a little bit more narrow. It was more focused on art films that were crossing over commercially. With AMCi, we are taking some more chances than we used to. There will be some of the smaller art-house titles as well that can seem a bit obscure, perhaps, but that are excellent films we feel our guests would want to see. We also expect to show straight independent films that may not even be tagged as ‘art’ and that answer to some of our guests’ cultural preferences and even social interests.”

In determining the preferred locations for AMCi (see sidebar), Denson-Randolph chose a two-pronged approach. “I worked with many of our distribution partners—not all of them, but both one-person shops and larger specialized companies or divisions—to see what they thought about some of the better theatres that were involved with AMC Select. I asked them where had their films worked and where they felt they could’ve also worked. Next I added the latter to our group and removed some of those Select theatres that we learned were not indexing strongly around independent films.”

In the second round, she took that newly assembled ensemble to AMC’s programmers. “Internally, each of the guys who program these theatres was able to provide me with more information. We had a dialogue around whether those theatres should remain and which ones would be added to the AMCi list.” The resulting “crossover” shows “many of the existing Select locations, but also a lot of new ones.”

Several of the original Select locations had been chosen “because they had the space,” she feels in retrospect. “This definitely isn’t about just filling screens… We know there is either opportunity to grow the art audience in these theatres or there is a strong opportunity for creating that audience, as some of these smaller films have performed well there already.”
In addition to analyzing films, the marketing and programming teams “have gone through all the demographics around where our theatres are located,” she continues. “We have done the studies of which culturally based films have done best in those markets and created circuits within our circuit. If an Asian-Indian film comes our way, we already know which list of theatres will participate or should participate and will work the best. We’ve done the same research around African-American as well as Latino and Hispanic content. We are looking to grow those segments even more. We are really going to pay attention to those culturally diverse interests.”

Denson-Randolph is also paying attention to the competition—although she does not see much going head-to-head with established art-house players. “It’s all about finding a niche where we know these films could play well.” During an earlier panel discussion during the Tribeca Festival, she says, someone called this found money. “We are going to find that business… All of us in the specialized arena can play in the same till. It is really not about going in and taking over. However, it is about AMC showing that we are just as dedicated in that space,” she assures. “We know about the opportunities there and we are passionate about independent and art film to boot. We’re not simply just one thing: namely, one big commercial theatre. No, we can service everybody.”

Given AMC’s 90 years of exhibition innovation and leadership, we can rest assured that it will be done well, too.

AMCi Markets
“The stories of the world, brought to your neighborhood.”
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Montreal, New Orleans, New York City, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Toronto, Tulsa, Washington D.C.
Additional consideration for cultural and ethnic diversity by establishing circuits within the circuit. Based on research, AMCi has identified theatres which perform strongly among the following cultural segments:
* Asian: 21+ theatres in seven markets (most prominent, L.A., NYC, SF, Seattle)
* Indian/Hindi: 45+ theatres in 25 markets (NYC, Chicago, GA, TX)
* Hispanic/Latino: 55+ theatres in 25 markets (NYC, Chicago, TX, CA, FL, DC)
* Urban & African-American: 60+ theatres in 22 markets (TX, L.A., NYC, PA, DC, FL, New Orleans)


Distributor Delight
“We have always seen AMC as cutting-edge when it comes to marketing itself and its products, and we are pleased to see this renewed effort toward marketing specialized movies. AMC Independent comes with a lot of positives—dedicated staff members, a cohesive programming and marketing plan that will reflect AMC’s guests’ interests. It’s a win-win for AMC and for Lionsgate, and we look forward to participating in this program.”
—David Spitz, Executive VP, Theatrical Distribution, Lionsgate

 “We are delighted to be part of AMC’s initiative to deliver unique visions and creative independent voices throughout America’s theaters. The top-shelf moviegoing experience that AMC provides, combined with original, thought-provoking world cinema, are a potent combination.”
—Michael Silberman, COO/President of Distribution & Marketing, Independent Distribution Partners (IDP)

 “We’re pleased to support this new platform, which will help IFC Films further its commitment to making independent film available to the widest possible audience.”
—Mark Boxer, Senior VP, Sales and Distribution, IFC Films

“AMC Independent is, in the opinion of Focus Features, a welcome theatrical development for our films to utilize during their releases. AMCi is a beneficial program for other specialized distributors and for specialized filmmakers as well. The biggest winner from the AMCi program, however, is the moviegoer who will have convenient access to alternative film programming in many markets throughout the country. Ultimately, AMCi will nurture and develop greater specialized film sensibilities among its present patrons; increase specialized film patronage; and simultaneously grow specialized box-office results nationally—great achievements to expect from AMCi.”
—Jack Foley, President, Theatrical Distribution, Focus Features

“Now more than ever before, the landscape for distribution of specialized film is
thriving thanks to AMC’s efforts to develop programs like AMC Independent.”
—Tom Bernard, Co-President & Co-Founder, Sony Pictures Classics